Are You Salary Capped?

Many times, nurses are salary capped at their level and the only way to increase their pay is to pick up a new specialty. Prof-Ed offers unique specialty training towards certification in routine foot care. 

There’s a growing demand for nurses (and all health care providers, in fact!) who can give foot care. Why? Because the population of those needing foot care is growing:

• The ‘Boomers have passed the threshold of “elderly” (past age 65) and are not as nimble in their own foot care.
• The number of Americans with chronic illness is increasing – per the CDC, more than half of those over 65 have at least one chronic illness and their foot care must be appropriate for their health considerations.
• Our level of colonization for pathogens is higher than ever. With “super bugs” resistant to traditional treatments, infection control must be impeccable….beyond what is typical in a salon in the mall.

This creates a perfect opportunity for nurses who can provide this vital care for their patients. However, most facilities cannot allow nurses to address the feet of their patients unless they are trained and certified in proper routine foot care (RFC) protocols.

What is RFC? Per Medicare it is comprised of the following tasks:  trimming and thinning down thickened toe nails, reducing excess callus (debridement) and applying therapeutic moisture. These tasks are will within the scope of practice for nurses who are properly trained.

Without a doubt, you, as a nurse, have seen examples of patients who really needed RFC, but were unable to assist them. This could be changed, and the best part is that you could pick up another specialization….and perhaps a raise!

LPN/LVNs read about foot care training here: Clinical Practices in Foot Care for LPNs

RNs read here: Best Practices in Foot Care for RNs